Concerns for future of rural communities as transport funding cut again

Concerns are growing that dramatic cuts to bus funding will undermine the Welsh language and the sustainability of rural communities.

Concerns are growing that dramatic cuts to bus funding will undermine the Welsh language and the sustainability of rural communities.

The Welsh Government has now confirmed that just £25m will be available to support buses and community transport across Wales in 2013-14.

That compares with £33m last year, and already councils and bus companies are reducing services or drawing up cutbacks.

Rural services – which have the highest subsidies per passenger – are especially vulnerable, and experts believe more young people will be forced to leave their home villages.

Cycling or walking are impractical for most commuting between rural settlements, but petrol and diesel prices have increased significantly in recent years – while the cost of premiums for comprehensive motor insurance has almost doubled since 2008.

Buses are a more affordable alternative for young people, but cuts in rural areas could make timetables even less likely than now to fit in with work hours in the nearest towns.

Nick Richardson, policy director of the Transport Planning Society, has studied bus cuts in England, where the subsidy reduction was less severe than in Wales. One in five services supported by English councils had been withdrawn or reduced in 2011-12.

“Crucially, bus service changes affect younger age groups,” he wrote in Passenger Transport magazine. “As most employment and training centres are in towns, getting to them is fundamental. Withdrawing buses changes the game completely.

“Given the stark choice of living somewhere with no access or moving so you can get to work means that, in most cases, younger people will move – adding to urbanisation pressures.

“This is a significant demographic change, as many younger people will not return to the places in which they grew up – hardly a recipe for sustainable communities.”

He said this would leave a “residual community” in rural areas – mainly middle-aged people who own cars and are comparatively well-off.

“Alienating communities seems to be an odd way of saving relatively small amounts of money,” he added.

Bus services have already been reduced in areas of Carmarthenshire, Anglesey and south Gwynedd – all strongholds of the Welsh language.

Aran Jones, of campaign group Cymuned, said: “The Welsh Government has previously said that we need to get to grips with the problems that face rural Wales, but here they’re taking steps in the opposite direction.

“This will increase the pressures on the small number of Welsh-speaking communities which still exist, and strengthen the idea that rural Wales is a playground for affluent people only.

“It’s hard to have any kind of faith in a government whose actions run counter to its claimed beliefs.”

Meri Huws, the Welsh Language Commissioner, said: “Vibrant and viable Welsh-speaking communities are reliant upon enabling young people to stay within their home patch.

“Therefore, there need to be affordable homes as well as local jobs and access to reliable public transport in rural Wales.”

Manon Celyn, who runs Urdd Gobaith Cymru community clubs in Conwy county borough, said bus cuts would accelerate the trend of young people leaving rural areas, including communities where Welsh was still widely spoken.

“The attraction of cities is going to be stronger, because [young] people don’t drive and there are no buses,” she said.

“If young people move out, there isn’t a community. When young people move to cities like Cardiff to look for work, the houses will be taken by people who move in and change the language [spoken in the village].”

Those new arrivals tended to be older people without dependent children. The trend reduced pupil numbers at village schools, which therefore came under increasing threat of closure, she added.

A Welsh Government spokesman said the development of the new bus grant scheme, which involved the bus industry and local government, had “acknowledged that bus services are especially important to people living in rural communities, where services are likely to be less frequent and more dependent on public funding”.

He said: “One of the principal objectives of the new grant is to ensure that public funding in support of bus and community transport services delivers outcomes that we know passengers most wish to see.

“In that way, more fare-paying passengers will be attracted to use buses, improving the long-term viability of the bus network.”

The Welsh Government was committed to seeing Welsh thrive in Wales’ communities, and this was reflected in its strategy for the living language.

“We also recently announced over £3.5m for organisations who promote the use of the Welsh language in the community,” he added.

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